I think I am officially stamped out....

I thought I was just having a hard time getting back in to it again after the long break over the Thanksgiving/Christmas period, but I think I am actually stamped out! For a while anyway. I'm very much hoping it's not a permanent thing because I have way too much money invested in this hobby to just walk out of my craft space and never enter it again.
Why this gloomy announcement? In the last 3 days ( 3 day weekend, don't you know?) I have not produced one card! I have spent a ton of time reorganizing supplies and checking out challenge blogs and referring to the very cool sketch book I got for Christmas and NOTHING! Not one card at the end of it all. I'm so frustrated, plus I feel like I wasted my precious time away from the day job! So, I'm going to take a wee break from crafting and from reading blogs and hopefully I will miss it so much I'll be back before you know it.

Past and Present

Like lots of you, I have been cleaning up my craft space recently and in a box at the bottom of a closet, I came across this card. I don't remember when I made it, but I do remember being very proud of myself when it was done - and I don't even think it was an original layout, I think I CASE'd it from a swap but the details are long gone, so if this was your card and you were in a swap with me 3 or 4 years ago, I apologize for not giving proper credit :)
Anyhow, I was looking at it and remembering how pleased I had been with it and thinking about how stamping trends have changed and how my stamping style has evolved and I couldn't help myself, I just had to give it a makeover.

I used the same Kaleidoscope stamp pad with a different sentiment because I originally intended to use a heart as an accent but didn't have one the right size, so I used a felt flower instead. I tried the paper flower from the post below, but it didn't look right either. I can't tell you how many hours I spend farfing around looking for just the right embellishment - it's a sickness, really, I think. I quite like how it turned out though. What do you think? Which is better?

Kay's Kindle :)

All my life I have loved to read. I love all sorts of books (except the Harlequin romance type books - they just don't do it for me) and I am a very, like clockwork, regular visitor to the local library. There are piles of books all over the house, especially in the places where I am to be found - by my chair, by my bed, in the bathroom...... I drive a lot for work and I listen to audio books to pass the time. I love every thing about books, the smell, the shiny jackets, the feel of the paper - you get the picture!
So for Christmas this year, my DH got me a Kindle! I wasn't sure how I would feel about an electronic book without the book smell, the shiny jacket etc but I am happy to say I am LOVING it. It is so easy to use, I was downloading and reading within minutes. And let's discuss all the FREE books. Amazon has hundreds of free titles which are enough to keep you reading for months and if that weren't enough, I found this really neat blog called Books on the Knob which will alert you to the latest free titles. Since some of titles are only free for a limited time, this is really helpful. I also found the Kindle Books forum which opens up a whole new world of authors and book people.
If there are any other Kindle lovers out there, please share any tips you have or other great sites you may have stumbled across. I don't think I will every give up my books totally, but it is just so easy to hit that one click button and add another book to my library.

Freezing in Florida...

.... I know you won't believe me, and those of you in the northern states will be especially skeptical, but it is so unusually cold here in Florida that we have iguanas freezing and falling out of trees for heavens sake! It's all right though because I went shopping today and picked up some new sweaters (because I only own 3 sweaters - I do live in Florida after all) and ordered a jacket from Overstock.com, so the weather will undoubtedly return to normal again. Luckily I have family in Scotland, so I will be able to use all the purchases next time I go over. As we found out last year, even if we plan a summer trip, that doesn't mean gloves wouldn't be useful.

I was going to shop yesterday but it was really, really cold and even the thought of new "stuff" couldn't tempt me off the couch, so I surfed around and found this tutorial on Dawn McVey's blog. How super cute is that? So I made this:

which was okay, but I didn't LOVE it - and I didn't think it looked nearly as cute as Dawn's, maybe because the scallop punch I used was the yellow Marvy one which doesn't have such deep scallops as the SU one she used? Anyway, in a light bulb moment, I decided to try the flower punch I just had to have from The Angel Company and have hardly every used and made this:

which I liked much better, especially after I added some stickles. I also scrunched my layers up tighter and didn't bother with the button.
Which do you like best?

Happy New Year!

All my good intentions for crafting last week were derailed by a nasty bug which confined me to the couch - couldn't go to bed, because I couldn't breathe when I was lying down, so I ended up sleeping in the recliner, fortified only by Alka Seltzer cold and Robitusson. Yuck!!
So 2010, eh? Doesn't it sound futuristic? I also spent quite a lot of time last week watching Dr. Who on Netflix, so I am currently somewhat of an expert on futuristic. Given the mad dream I had last night, I obviously need to watch something else because apparently the combination of Daleks and cold medication is not a good one!
I also managed to read the new Stephen King novel "Under The Dome" which my DS gave me for Christmas. It is a MASSIVE book - over 1000 pages - but I do love me some SK, so I was up to the task. Not one of his best, IMHO, but still very readable. All in all, it could have been worse.
We typically host a party on New Years Eve, but in the circumstances (and in the interests of not infecting the whole neighborhood) we kept it to a dull roar with only a couple of our closest (bravest!!) friends. Champagne and fireworks and the chance to have actual conversations with people made it a rousing success. I might just do the same again next year. It was much easier to clear up later too.
In other news, I finally made it back to the craft room today. I was finishing up some Valentines for OperationWriteHome. Lounging on the couch for a week also gave me lots of time to blurf and I found some really neat free vintage images at The Graphics Fairy, which inspired this card. If you like vintage images you will have a field day looking around this site. This was one of my favorites, don't you think it just cried out for some Basic Grey and some lace?

I also want to apologize to all my bloggy buddies at Ocean's 11 because I have neglected them all (and this blog) terribly over the last couple of months. I'll be back visiting and commenting, I promise.


So Happy New Year to all of you out there in blog land - it's my sincere hope that 2010 will bring you all what you hope for.